Chapter 1031 Familiar Strait
I'm late today, only one update, sorry!
…
"Damn it!" Prime Minister George cursed, his face pale. "They figured it out a long time ago. It was Charles's doing! Charles must have guessed that we would send troops to reinforce Brest, so he coordinated with the Germans."
No one doubts this.
France and Germany now have a quasi-alliance relationship, and the timing of the German High Seas Fleet's attack perfectly meets France's needs.
There are only two options before the Royal Navy:
One is to continue attacking the port of Brest regardless of the consequences.
The second is to immediately dispatch troops to support Beihai.
The Quartermaster General chose the former.
"We should continue the offensive," he said.
"The Germans are just bluffing. They have no ability to break through the blockade of the North Sea Fleet."
"Like I said, their morale and combat effectiveness have not recovered, even if they have more warships."
"They just want to disrupt our offensive rhythm!"
But the Minister of the Navy, Balfour, held a different opinion:
"What if the Germans can win? We all know that the Germans have been planning for a long time, and they have more warships in the North Sea than we do."
"Our victory at Brest will be of no avail if the Germans defeat us in the North Sea."
"By then everyone will know that besides the French, there is also the German fleet that can defeat us. We can't take that risk!"
The Quartermaster General, a true gambler, objected loudly: "But what if we win on both sides? Wouldn't that be a better outcome?"
Then everyone understood his idea:
Defeat the German fleet in the North Sea and the French fleet in the Atlantic.
Then all colonies that are planning or have already rebelled will be frightened, and the world will naturally return to British "management".
"No." Prime Minister George felt this was too risky: "We should blockade the port of Brest with mines as originally planned and transfer the Second Fleet back to the North Sea."
He believed that there was no need to rush the attack on Brest Port. Brest Port was right there, and it would not be too late to come back and attack after defeating the German fleet.
This idea was correct in principle, but after actual operation, they found that it was the Minister of Munitions who was right, because the Second Fleet could not be transferred back at all.
…
In the port of Brest, the offensive of the British Royal Navy's Second Fleet has entered a fierce stage.
The Quartermaster General's tactics were indeed effective.
The destroyers attracted the firepower of the French battleships in front, and there were three super dreadnoughts and five dreadnoughts in the back. They were lined up with their broadsides facing the port of Brest and pointing their guns at the target.
Since seaplanes could not take off, Vice Admiral Forbes chose to use destroyers to calibrate their guns: after the destroyers came into visual range, they observed with telescopes and then communicated with the battleships via radio.
Destroyers were under tremendous pressure because they were also targets for enemy battleships.
They could only hope that they were not singled out by the enemy.
Then, those who survived would feed the information back to the rear so that the battleships could avenge them.
The British dreadnoughts fired at the obtained coordinates one after another, with each ship opening fire a few seconds apart.
(Note: The ships fire at intervals of a few seconds to calibrate their guns. If all ships fire simultaneously, the destroyer calibrating ahead will not be able to tell which ship's data is most accurate. If the interval is 10 seconds, the destroyer will know which ship has achieved "straddle fire" and can then have all ships fire based on that ship's data.)
Then Vice Admiral Forbes received a signal from the destroyer: "Ship number three has achieved 'straddle fire', number three!"
Vice Admiral Forbes was overjoyed. The third warship was the "Malaya" of the "Queen Elizabeth" class. Its straddle fire meant that the three "Queen Elizabeth" class ships of the same class could all fire accurately.
This is likely to severely damage the target.
(Note: Even if warships have the same guns, due to differences in parameters such as ship height and displacement, the ballistics of warships of different classes will have large errors. The errors of ships of the same class will be much smaller. The hit rate of naval guns during World War I was extremely low. In the Battle of Jutland, the hit rate of British dreadnoughts was only 3%. They could only rely on these methods to improve the hit rate)
Lieutenant General Forbes shouted, "Adjust the parameters!"
Soon, the signalmen and staff shouted in relays:
"Ready!"
"Ready!"
…
"Fire!" shouted Lieutenant General Forbes.
“Boom boom boom!”
“Boom boom!”
…
The sound of cannons rang out, and the ship shook violently with each shot. Sometimes the ship was pushed back in the opposite direction again by the recoil before it could even turn around. The smoke from the muzzle bloomed towards the enemy side like gray-black flowers.
There was no whistling sound of artillery shells because it could not be heard, but the towering water columns more than ten kilometers away were clearly visible.
Then came two more rounds of artillery fire. The sea was filled with smoke and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder. Blown by the opposing and humid sea breeze, it filled the entire command cabin.
But Lieutenant General Forbes was used to it. He nervously held up his telescope and stared towards the port of Brest.
A flash of fire erupted, a flame in the water column, bright and smoky.
Vice Admiral Forbes was ecstatic. Years of combat experience told him that the fire meant hitting the target, and the bright fire with black smoke was most likely the result of an enemy ship's shell exploding.
There was jubilation in the command cabin.
But the telegram brought a report from the destroyer ahead: "A cruiser was sunk, and the enemy battleship was moved in time!"
The cheers gradually died down. Sinking a cruiser was nothing, at least not compared to the destroyers lost by their own side.
However, Forbes did not give in. The British side had already gained an absolute upper hand. The enemy had only two dreadnoughts, which were hiding in the narrow space in the harbor. They could not afford to lose!
But at this moment, the staff reported: "General, a telegram from London, the Prime Minister ordered us to withdraw from the battlefield and return to the North Sea!"
"What?" Lieutenant General Forbes looked at his staff officer in disbelief. "We're about to win, at this moment?"
The staff officer said helplessly: "The German High Seas Fleet is attacking the North Sea. General, reinforcements are urgent."
Lieutenant General Forbes hummed, looked at Brest with a hint of regret, and ordered: "Withdraw troops and return to the North Sea!"
However, what Lieutenant General Forbes did not know was that this was precisely the beginning of his nightmare.
…
English Channel.
The Queen Elizabeth-class super dreadnought battleship HMS Warspite was the first to enter the Channel with two dreadnoughts and a dozen destroyers.
The "Warspite" had just arrived in Brest last night through the Channel from the North Sea to reinforce it, as had the warships it was carrying.
The reason why they were sent back to the North Sea first was that these ships only participated in the battle for about an hour and consumed little ammunition.
Vice Admiral Forbes believed they could enter the North Sea in optimal condition to confront the German High Seas Fleet.
They had no idea what was waiting for them in this familiar strait!
(End of this chapter)
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